Another look at energy consumption and environmental sustainability target through the lens of the load capacity factor: Accessing evidence from MINT economies

The relationship between energy utilization and the environment is crucial in an era of environmental concerns by global economies and rising energy consumption. Emerging economies such as Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey (hereafter, MINT) face complex trade-offs between economic growth and environmental sustainability. Strengthening this study are the UN Sustainable Development Goals prepositions on access to clean and alternative energy, decent economic growth, responsible production and consumption and climate action (UN-SDGs-7, 8, 12, and 13). The present study examines the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for MINT economies within the framework of the load capacity factor (LCF). The article leverages panel econometrics to operationalize the relationship between study variables. Empirical findings show that the present study fails to confirm the presence of EKC. Thus, it implies that the MINT economies are at their first stage of accelerated economic growth which might result in an augmented ecological footprint and exert pressure on natural resources, as indicated by the observed negative outcome. Furthermore, there is a positive and significant relationship between renewable energy consumption (RENENG) and LCF. It implies that a 1% increase in RENENG leads to an increase in LCF of 0.70%. These outcomes indicate that the level of RENENG in MINT economies is not sufficient to mitigate climate change issues. Thus, from a policy perspective, there is a need for change in the MINT nations' energy portfolio mix, such as the need to switch from conventional energy sources (fossil fuels) to renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, photovoltaic and hydropower, which usually have a smaller negative impact on the environment. Furthermore, there is a need for investment in new and green energy technologies in the countries investigated to arrive at a clean and better ecosystem as desired. More insight is outlined in the concluding section.